Important Notice

The period between 1955 and 1961 saw Francis Newton Souza's rise to critical and commercial success. His autobiography Nirvana of a Maggot, was published in 1955, the same year he held his first one man show at Gallery One. From 1956 to 1960, he received a regular stipend from Harold Kovner, a wealthy American collector, in exchange for a regular supply of paintings. Empowered with greater artistic freedom, Souza created some of his best... The period between 1955 and 1961 saw Francis Newton Souza's rise to critical and commercial success. His autobiography Nirvana of a Maggot, was published in 1955, the same year he held his first one man show at Gallery One. From 1956 to 1960, he received a regular stipend from Harold Kovner, a wealthy American collector, in exchange for a regular supply of paintings. Empowered with greater artistic freedom, Souza created some of his best works during these years.

This lot is a fine example of Souza's prolific output. Made as a drawing on the reverse of an invitation card, it highlights Souza's versatility. Souza often experimented with surfaces and mediums. With oil paints and polyvinyl acetate, or chemical alterations on magazine paper, he transformed used and unused surfaces into cityscapes and figurative drawings. The present lot also offers insight into Souza's camaraderie with other migrants to England, whether artists, writers, poets, photographers or art dealers, and the solidarity that existed between them.

The Gaberbocchus Common Room was set up to bridge the gap between the arts and sciences. Polish immigrants Stefan and Franciszka Themerson founded the Gaberbocchus Press in 1948, and nine years later, transformed the basement of their office into the Common Room. Lectures, recitals, film screenings and performances were held here between 1957 and 1959. It is likely that Souza frequented the Common Room during this period. In a 1958 invitation, the sketch shows a leering man, whose expression contrasts with that of the demure sitter, separated by a landscape. In a conversation between Souza and the current owner, Souza revealed that the drawing could be interpreted as a drawing of the artist and his muse. Viewed in this light, Souza's sketch compresses a long history of intimacy that often resulted between the artist and his muse.

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